Sympathetic Grief
by devdevKat
Summary: The remarkable journey of a cat, his love, and his followers – from a wretched alley to a utopian forest – along with the tears, sacrifices, and anomalies that are thrown upon them.
1. Prologue

A/N: Just a head's up, most of this story is about cats I made up, who is on a journey to the forest, and meets cats from Warriors along the way. So no, it's not a fanfiction totally about Warriors and it could be in FictionPress, but it's staying here because it's got Warriors characters in them. I will definitely start a Pokémon fanfiction sometime later, so you can read more of my works, that is, if you like them. Thanks!

Stars glistened amidst the dark night sky. The moon glowed its loving glow, the way a mother would smile at her child. The silhouettes of shadowy pine trees speckled the horizon. No bodies of clouds could blot out the glorious scene at hand. It was a peaceful sight to behold, and nothing seemed to be hindering it, at least to the sleeping human souls cramped in their own, little nests.

There was the wild, imaginative forest with the sun in the sky and the moon at its side, blooming with animals and bound with flowers. Then there was the great wall, made of fear, of danger, of the unknown. For as far as any animal has lived to know, the wall has stretched as far as it could, into the mountainous land in the north, and to the swampy marshes in the south. The wall could be seen as high as the sky, and as low as to core of the earth. Not a single animal in the forest ever lived to get past the wall, see what's beyond, and come back to tell the tale. All but one…


	2. Ruby

Shadows swept over the leaning bushes of grass. Not a single blade twitched in the passing of the shadow. The crickets still chirped their midnight tunes and the breeze still blew, swaying the branches of the trees. The shadows weren't normal shadows. They could think, they could move, they could operate and react for themselves. In fact, they cannot be considered to be mere shadows. For beyond the human eye, there was something else, something that could not be foreseen…

Justicar lapped at his dirty paw. Last night's looting party had been a success! In fact, they had stolen enough food for their party to last another month! Making sure the gritty earth had disappeared from his paw, he glanced at the dawning sun. His eyes reflected fire that harmonized with the natural olive greenness of his eyes. Justicar knew that as soon as they had found a way out, that they would be forever safe, deep within the heart of the forest. But for now, they were stuck wandering around the rough, paved roads that humans consider safe for travel. It wore off their paw pads, caused scratches, and made travel terrible. In fact, they were disregarded by those two-legs completely. Kicked around, bullied, and tortured, they needed to pull through and find a way through the wall, and escape into a paradise. Giving up was not an option. The fire that reflected into his eyes morphed into a fiery determination, which sparked his anxiety to move around and explore, even though his empty stomach did not approve.

Just as he was wondering what they were to accomplish that day, his mate, Neria, stroked his cheek with her tongue. She was small for her age, but her charm and her wits pulled her through. Humans viewed her as a stray gray tabby that was cute, but stole milk from their storehouses. Justicar viewed her as one-of-a-kind, the someone that was perfect for him. Neria purred as Justicar mewed, "We'll take some milk from those two-leggers and some bacon as well. I really like that stuff."

"We always do what you say. You're our leader, Justicar," Neria gazed wonderingly at her mate.

"Neria, sometimes I don't know whether or not I'd be here without you, that I'd still be alive without you," Justicar looked into her crystalline, sky blue eyes. And they just stared through each other's eyes, acknowledging their love between their minds, not letting a single soul know what they are mewing about.

There was a yowl from the back of the alley. And quite a loud one too. Obviously, Squealer had woken up. He was a large, fat cat who liked to laze around and was never one to give up food for someone else. A large round tummy fills up his image, and his fur was always a funny shade of tan. Though he was always unkempt and lacked brains, he was one of those in the party most obedient to Justicar, no matter what circumstance.

"So you're up and ready to go, aren't you?" Neria purred accusingly as she walked up to the lump of tan fur lying on the dirty garbage can lid. She sighed and wondered how he was able to get so fat, with what so little food they had.

"_Mrow_! Yeah, sure thing, babe," Squealer turned around to face Neria in the most disgusting manner and barely managed to open his squinty hazel eyes.

Neria rolled her eyes in return and pawed at his stomach to get up. "Get up, you lazy rascal!" Neria pressed down with her claws across his stomach, to cause some sudden pain, enough pain to wake him up without harming him.

Squealer hissed in surprise and jumped at least three feet into the air. "I hate it when you do that!" He hissed, reminiscing the feeling of being pranked for the last few months he joined the party.

Neria purred in amusement, observing the shaken-up, plump cat standing on its toes.

Just a moment later, Justicar passed by and with a grunt of disapproval between the two, told them to wake the others. They had a whole party of mouths to feed, which meant that every day was a busy day, indeed. Justicar only had to wait for the midnight patrol to return successfully, with enough food to share for breakfast. The three cats he sent were of utmost importance to him and it would mean everything to keep them alive, for those three cats were the sole reason why this party was still alive today.

"But you're our leader. You are the thinking machine of this party. You do a lot of work too. Don't be too hard on yourself," Neria would muse.

Justicar would always say, "Ah, yes that, honey," but deep inside, all a leader's got to do is watch his teammates burden the real work on their shoulders while all he does is stand and watch. He suddenly wished he had a more important role, as if being the leader weren't enough.

Seeing a frown on Justicar's face, Neria stroked across the garbage can lid and brushed up against him. "Something's on your mind again, isn't it?" Her seeking eyes beamed into his.

Unable to resist the beauty of her stark, keen blue eyes, Justicar said, "Yes. The usual. I'm worried that the three of them will get into trouble again."

Neria sighed a delicate sigh. "They always come back with enough food for all of us to ration, and they will remain coming back with enough food for all of us. Don't double think yourself out on this. They're the most experienced, skilled thieves in this party. Do you really think they'll fail us after they've succeeded over and over?" Neria gazed into her mate's eyes questioningly, waiting for the answer she knew would be said, but never to be true.

"Y-you're right, Neria," Justicar began. "They'll be coming back no matter what happens. They'll be coming back no matter _what_ happens. Thank you again, dear." He looked into her alluring gaze and almost remembered what life had been like long ago, but that sliver of a feeling vanished completely as Rusty and Willow stumbled into the alley with two beautifully fat, cooked salmon in their mouths. Rusty had a nasty cut on his leg where none had been before and looked dirtier and roughed up. Willow looked no different, but with a patch of fur missing on his pelt and a new cut on his ear. But there was no sign of Ruby.

Ears pricked up in alert, Justicar commandingly asked, "Where is Ruby?" He didn't want to believe what he thought had happened, when all his past experiences told him that what he thought was true.

"I-I'm sorry sir," Rusty began but was interrupted by a steaming Justicar.

"She had better be back and I want her back here NOW!" Justicar was close to a dangerous hiss.

"She's dead sir," Willow finished. "She's dead. We couldn't save her. The…the trap was hidden and too fast for her to catch notice of when running so fast. She got caught in it and then the fishmonger caught up and brought a stone to her head. We watched it all. It was more than gruesome. But the worst part was, was that the fishmonger vowed to catch us all."

By then, the rest of the five sleeping cats had woken up, listening to the shocking news that had been thrown at them. They all knew Ruby as the motherly cat who would take her life to save another's. Not only that, but she was also one of the fastest cats out of all of them, even after she lost her tail to a chef's butcher knife. Now that Ruby was gone, their main weapon in stealing food was gone forever, like a heart robbed from the chest of an animal.

Justicar looked as if he was about the give up in desperation. It looked like, for a moment that he wanted to leap off a tall building or rip his throat out. There was true worry in his eyes, the one thing he claimed that he was immune to, which reassured all the cats he had led. But now, he wasn't so sure. Losing Ruby to the fishmonger was something unplanned. Justiscar turned to Neria for some help. He looked at her closely, seeing the thin trickles of tears wetting her filthy gray cheeks. Her jaw was trembling in shock. Silence pervaded throughout the alley and the remaining cats stayed silent, honoring Ruby with all the service she has given them. Justicar felt his own tears welling up underneath his eyes, like he wasn't ready to go on, like he wanted things to go back as before.

"Justicar, good sir," Willow began, breaking the silence in an uneasy mew. "What has happened has happened. We need to get a grip and move on. We cannot allow the fishmonger to catch us all." He waited for a reply, his dark green eyes staring into Justicar for an answer.

"Willow's right, everyone," Justicar mewed solemnly, blinking back tears of despair. "We need to move on. We must not let the fishmonger and the animal hunters catch wind of our location. A speech would most honor our Ruby's sacrifice, but silence shall always say more. Now onwards we go, comrades!" He motioned for Willow and Rusty to bring along the plump salmons and together–hungry– but as one, headed out of the alley quickly and in single file, trickled down the cement and turned a corner. Justicar led the way, followed by Rusty, Willow, Neria and the five other cats.

_Together as a group, we might make it in our lifetimes, and together we shall remain. _Justicar thought as he tirelessy led them along, making sure no humans laid eyes upon them, as a group of traveling cats in single file would prove suspicious. _I shall lead them to freedom, and make sure there are no more lives lost. Or else I truly am a failure._


	3. Teamwork Counts

The sun danced on the early morning sky and cast nimble shadows upon the traveling group of cats. The shadows of their bouncing legs reflected upon a brick wall of a building, the swiftness and gracefulness of their movements. The ten of them traveled as a pack, making sure no one was left behind, making sure no one was hungry, and making sure no one loses their lives. It was a hard-lived everyday life for those cats, but deep inside, they knew that the goal they were reaching for was worth it. No matter what the cost, even if they themselves don't make it, their next generation will. And that was the driving force that continuously kept those cats alive.

Justicar led the party around the corner and ran right into the legs of an early morning jogger. The human was astounded to find a line of cats crashing right into him. He almost uttered a cry of terror, but Justicar was quick enough to head butt into its face, knocking it down to the rough ground. The human let out a grunt as his head met with the cement, rendering him unconscious. Rusty eyed Justicar for permission to cut its throat, but Justicar didn't allow it. Disappointed but willing to move on, Rusty returned to following the single file line down the side of the street.

Justicar was actually very surprised to see a two-legger so early in the morning. As they padded in the dim streets, he looked behind and saw Neria with a just-as-quizzical look on her face. Apparently, she was thinking of the incident as well. "We better move faster, before they find out we did that, dear," Justicar meowed to Neria.

Neria nodded in reply and motioned for him to move at a brisker trot. Together as a party of ten, they almost galloped down the street as the sky flowed from an indigo to a warming peach color. The sun was slowly rising, meaning more and more humans would emerge onto the streets, and that would be dangerous. Especially those noisy, monstrous machines they ride in, that pollutes the air of stink and kills anything in front of it.

The sky soon metamorphosed into a light blue, Justicar realized their speed was much too slow, as the first car tore down the cement roads. Justicar halted the line suddenly, in response to the monster, but after a few mere seconds, it was far away from them. Justicar exhaled in relief. "Keep to the alleys, comrades. It is too light for us to travel in plain sight," Justicar hissed to his party, gesturing them to move forward to a dark land between two buildings.

Justicar and his party of cats all piled inside the narrow, cramped space. It was dark and not the most comfortable place, but it protected them from those hideous two-legs. Justicar announced in the softest mew possible, "And we shall be staying here for the rest of the day, comrades. Rusty and Willow, thank you for helping us carry the food. I think you two deserve the most food out of all of us."

Squealer groaned in protest, but Neria quickly shushed him. Squealer's eyes glanced to and fro at his fellow peers staring at him, trying to oppress the humiliation hanging in the air. He simply failed to do so and the other cats purred in amusement. Neria couldn't help but smile slyly at the embarrassed Squealer.

Every cat received a plump portion of the fish, and Justicar even volunteered to give half of his away. While eating, Neria padded up to a lonely Justicar slowing chewing up his fish. She set her own portion down in front of her mate. "You should be eating more," she said with motherly concern.

Justicar sighed, "The other cats deserve so much more than me. They do work. I only eat, sleep, and order everyone around–"

"Nonsense!" Neria purred, her tail lashed furiously and impatiently at the cement ground. "You need to think for all of us. Haven't you realized you're just about the smartest, wisest cat around here? You need to have more faith and confidence in yourself, mate."

Justicar sighed a heavy sigh. "Thank you again, Neria," he said, thinking about what she said. If she had faith in him, and everyone else had faith in him, he knew he had no other choice but to have faith in himself as well. Justicar smiled warmly at Neria. She smiled back. They seemed to beam into each other's eyes for just a fraction of a second, and Justicar broke the silence, "We should eat now."

Neria blinked. "Of course. You take some of mine and please don't argue." She cut hers neatly into quarters and offered her mate a quarter.

Justicar gave her a frown, but he knew better than to argue with a concerned Neria. Justicar realized he was hungrier than he thought because he ravenously chowed down the salmon in a mere minute. He smacked his fishy lips in delight, appreciating the fact that his mate was right. Neria grinned widely at him, having finished her portion as well. Their tail entwined together and they just sat there speaking each other's minds when a gray tabby with white paws came up to Justicar, "We're all finished with our food, Justicar."

Justicar and Neria looked up at him. The gray tabby, Cloud, smiled sheepishly, suddenly realizing he had interrupted a special moment between the two. The cats in the back of the alley watching him, snickered in amusement. Justicar smiled, stretched with a big yawn, and said, "I'll be announcing the afternoon group, and make sure that _everyone_ comes back OK. Since you are so anxious, why don't you be part of the group, Cloud?"

Cloud dipped his head in acceptance of his job. Then an orange she-cat known as Dawn, volunteered to join the group. She padded over to join Cloud. Finally, a rather large brown cat with a white-tipped nose called Sparrow joined the group. Justicar didn't have to force anyone to go this time. He smiled at the contributing team he led. "Alright comrades," Justicar addressed his chosen group of three, "We expect enough food for all of us before nightfall and most of all, don't lose a life, even if it means ditching the food. I don't want to lose anyone else today."

With that comment in their minds, the three cats took off, exiting the alley and out into the bright streets one-by-one so as not to create suspicion among the humans. Justicar really hoped that this group could make the right choices and actions out there, so as not to get killed. Losing another cat could mean trouble, even if the team had fewer mouths to feed. Losing a member meant one less chance to get food. And the more members they had, the better off they were. _Teamwork counts_, Justicar thought while gazing out the alley, _teamwork counts_.


	4. Snake & Ice

A/N: Snake and Ice are from Bloodclan and they are the first cats revealed that are actually part of the Warriors series. Anyway, a few more comments/reviews would be nice. Workin' hard.

The afternoon sun radiantly cast its warming lights upon the roofs and streets of the human civilization. Three cats ran rabidly, darting as fast as they could, away from two humans in tan uniforms. They seemed to streak across the sidewalks, tripping a young child and worrying its mom, then disappear behind a corner and into the protective shadows of an alley. The humans turned the corner and knew with experience, that the cats ran into the alley.

_This is going to be a much more difficult job_, the human with the black leather shoes and baseball cap said, clutching a net.

The other human snickered at imagining the extra money he'd receive after putting three more animals in the pound. His boss would reward him graciously.

Together, they stepped into the darkness of the alley; the rotting smells of banana peels and leftover food clouded the atmosphere. Those rotten cats were nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, the human with the black leather shoes and the baseball cap noticed a flicker of movement in the blackest corner of the alley.

"I'm gonna go check it out, Henry," the man muttered coldly, bracing himself to confront a trapped cat.

The other human nodded, and pulled out a gun with sleep darts locked and loaded. He grinned a wicked grin.

Out of nowhere, a scream pierced the alley. Henry looked at his colleague, and half his face was literally soaked in blood. A cat was clinging, biting his shoes, and another cat had snapped the net in half. Dangerous hisses and screams of agony choked the peace hanging loosely in the air. All of a sudden, Henry realized that those two cats were the exact same cats that had released last week's catches of cats at the pound… and last week's payment. The encouragement bolstered his wits, and he stomped over and scooped up a hissing and flailing cat in the net, shot it with a dart, and almost immediately, it fell unconscious. He cackled, bent on taking revenge, while loading another dart.

Snake hid quietly in the shadows, waiting for the foolish human to come near him. Since the last mission in the pound, he knew that Scourge was right. Anger was to fuel to invincibility. At moments later, when the human seemed to be futilely teasing him out, he sprang out in a quick flash of nothingness and raked both claws across the human's face. There came a quick piercing howl that caused his ears to flatten back, but he leaped back and held onto the human's face for a few seconds, before it flung him off. He flipped onto his limbs, and began scampering back to cause injuries, when his teammate, Ice, gripped onto the human's legs with such force that blood came drifting out, furiously. More piercing screams echoes along the alley, with their hisses of attack harmonizing with the screams in a bloody melody.

Then in a moment too soon, another human trudged up, kicked Ice to the ground, and scooped him up with a wide net. What happened next was horror to Snake's eyes: Ice was shot in the side with some sort of invisible projectile because immediately, Ice fell into a trance and started to sleep.

_Curse those sleep needles_, Snake thought, become fueled and burning with rage. He finished the human off with a front rake to the other side of its face, and kicked its crotch, watching it crumple to the ground, struggling with the pain. His real foe was the human with the gun. As long as that human didn't run away, Snake was absolutely sure that he could win this battle.

The human aimed the launcher at Snake and shot, but Snake easily dodged the projectile. Surprised, the human began loading another projectile, only to clumsily drop it to the ground, and bent to pick it up. That was a fatal mistake. Two other cats he had been helping, gray tabby and a big brown cat leaped out from behind a garbage can and tackled the human to the ground. The human quickly lost hold of Ice, who was entangled in the net. The gray tabby easily untangled Ice from the net and gripping him by the scruff, carried him back behind Snake and set him down beside three bags of sautéed chicken and another orange she-cat.

Snake charged at the human trying to get back up from the ground, and knocked him back to the ground, a fresh cut on the neck, oozing with blood. The air was pungent with the odor of salty blood. The brown cat ripped apart the other human's hat easily and damaged its scalp. After a few blunt kicks to the head, the human that had dropped Ice collapsed in unconsciousness. Snake headed over to give it a killing gash in the throat, but before he could even lift a claw, there came a feminine hiss from behind.

"Even though we've defeated them, it would be a little troublesome if the humans found two dead bodies in this alley," the orange she-cat spoke with an alluring tone. "We better leave with this pile. You two will be welcome to share this with our little party."

Snake yowled in protest, but didn't disobey the she-cat's wishes. After all, if he did disobey, then he probably wouldn't get a share of the food they cooperated to steal. "Have it your way," he hissed. He turned around into the alley, uncovered a hidden tunnel in the side of a building, and together, they crept through it, stealthily making it back towards the party… with two newcomers.


	5. Blood Clan

As the sun reached the limits of its arcing path, the warmth of its rays wavered, hinting at the coming a cold, frosty night. The sun's warmth was reflected in the crystalline eyes of a purring Neria, grazing her tongue across her mate's back. Justicar purred in delight, for the feeling of ticks being removed felt great. He had already found at least seven ticks feasting upon Neria's flesh.

Justicar meowed, "I wonder what's taking Cloud, Dawn and Sparrow so long. Surely, we haven't lost another one of us have we?"

Neria slapped him with her tail in a scolding manner. "Don't think like that. They are just as capable and would most definitely abide by your wishes." She continued to nip out a tick that was struggling to cling on to Justicar's dirty fur.

In a moment too soon, the trio of cats came dashing back, totally out of breath, with three generous bags of food that smelled fresh and absolutely mouth-watering. Justicar exhaled in relief, relieved that they were back. However, there were two new cats that had tagged along.

"We're back, Comrade Justicar," Dawn mewed after dropping the bag of chicken to the ground. "And we've managed this feast with the help of Ice and Snake back here." She motioned to the two cautious-looking cats, staring around at Justicar's party.

Justicar and Neria looked at each other, seeming to exchange a telepathic message. "Greetings comrades Ice and Snake," Justicar mewed with an air of authority. "Welcome to our temporary haven. Please… allow an introduction."

Snake and Ice exchanged glances. "I am Snake, brother of Ice and we are great warriors from Blood Clan."

"I am Ice, brother of Snake, and we are great warriors from Blood Clan," Ice meowed thickly.

Justicar tilted his head in a curious manner. "What is this Blood Clan you speak of?"

Snake answered first, "Blood Clan is another group of cats thriving in this human domain, stealing and kill–"

Ice cut him off with a hiss, "–and getting food. Our party is much bigger than yours, which is why we are under the title of a 'clan' and this human civilization is our permanent home." Ice glared at Snake, not wanting to give too much information away.

Justicar noticed their odd behavior and for a second, doubted that it was safe to include these two newcomers in their temporary haven. "So Sparrow, what happened and what did you bring?" All cats in the party looked down from their garbage lid nests and set their eyes on Sparrow.

Sparrow meowed promptly, "Well, along the way, we decided to loot from the local restaurant and sneaked into the kitchen. We had Dawn do in since she was the smallest out of all of us. She went into the storage in the back and no two-leg caught sight of her. She came back with one bag of delicious chicken, then went back and got two more bags and ran out. Then we bumped into Snake and Ice who were also coming in to loot some food. Instead, we made a deal and said that if you could help us find a way back that did not involve going out into the open, you could have some food as well. And so with courtesy to them, we saved much time." Sparrow stepped back and sat down, purposely leaving out the part where they attacked the humans and awaited Justicar's following orders.

Justicar hissed into Neria's ears and they exchanged some words unbeknownst to the other cats. Justicar faced Snake and Ice, giving them a cold stare. "You two are allowed to take a share of the food, and you must leave at once."

Neria stared Ice and Snake down, her eyes betraying no emotion.

Snake and Ice didn't complain, and both of them eyed Justicar with just as much intensity. The two stranger cats' eyes were full of vengeance and bloodshed; Justicar could see it carved upon the essence of their pupils. Their soul was corrupted by an unknown darkness; fierier and darker than any he has seen. And his observations never betrayed the truth. He needed them out of here, before they could cause any further trouble. He tore his intense stare away from those accursed eyes focusing into his, "Dawn, take out the food, split it, and dismiss these two from our camp."

Dawn nodded in respect, and followed Justicar's orders. She split the fresh chicken among her comrades as evenly as she could, then passed two evenly cut pieces to the anticipating Snake and Ice. They snatched it out of her grasp, and surprised her. Sparrow's fur stood on end and he looked like he was about to pounce on Snake and Ice, but Justicar eyed him down.

"Leave at once," Justicar motioned for them to leave the alley. His mate looked at him uneasily, telling him through an exchange of glances, that these were cats not meant to be messed with.

Snake and Ice hissed furiously, and darted out of the alley, into the broad light of the setting sun. Dawn didn't even have a chance to walk them out, to make sure they had gone for real. Justicar was sure that nobody in his party wanted to lay eyes on cats with such an intense, dark aura. He hoped that they wouldn't have to meet them again. The sound of _Blood Clan_ ran through his mind, as he crouched down to gobble up his food hungrily. He glanced towards Neria, and her face betrayed an emotion of shock and uneasiness as well.

After a quietness had settled over the alley, a sharp ringing in the air alerted everyone. They all knew from their long life in this human nest that that was the sound of the pound, the sound of capture and horror and torture. The ringing first sounded distant, but became stronger and stronger, closer and closer. Justicar's ears pricked up in the ear. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a black truck passing by the crack of the alley, and he sighed in relief as it passed. He wondered where it was going and which unfortunate animal was to be caught and brought into human slavery. Suddenly, his feelings and goals to get out of here intensified and he barked out orders for everyone to get on a move as soon as night has fallen. It would be quite sad if they couldn't make it.

"Keep calm; we'll make it," Neria grinned in determination as the cats stretched and prepared for their long journey through the night.

Justicar grinned as well, hoping they would at least find a way into the fabled forest towards the east. He had no idea which way it was, only the feeling his experienced guts gave him. His stomach groaned in protest of having to move so quickly, but he already knew, _It's going to be a long night_.


	6. Battle in the Night

As the warm lights of the day went out, the shine of night's stars emerged from the depth of space. A band of ten cats trotted down the side of an old brick building, down the rough pavement, and into the danger of a black-paved path. They all knew this too well as a path made only for the whirring monsters those humans ride in. Justicar signaled for them to make their way past the road quick as possible, as they continued heading east. Little did they know that they were being trailed by an unknown foe…

Justicar and his companions soon found themselves bickering over which path to take at a crossroads. Dawn, Sparrow, and Rusty all agreed to take the path leading right and see what other conjunctions to take from there. However, Willow, Squealer, and Cloud argued to go left because they saw a road extending high into the sky in the left, and then they could see what situation they were in. The bickering continued for what seemed a long time, and Justicar suddenly spat, "Enough! This arguing shall cease at once!"

The six cats turned to glance at Justicar and Neria, waiting for their words.

"How about the three of you head left and take a look, and the other three will scout down the right path. The rest of us shall take to the roof of that structure and wait," Justicar flicked his tail to point out a roof of a human edifice that was low enough for them to reach, and the party split. Justicar led Neria and the two quieter cats of their team, Mazy and Yarrow, to the top of the building. There, they curled up and tried to conserve the little heat they had, in this frosty night.

Dawn, Sparrow, and Rusty stole down the road leading right, keeping themselves as invisible as possible, knowing from experience, that there are some late-sleeping humans. The least they wanted right now was for trouble.

At the end of the road, it split into a crossroads again, leading off in three directions and they were as confused as ever. What kind of dumb human would pave themselves a maze-like path for travel? Sparrow shook his head in dismay and before the other two could continue down, he said, "That may not be smart. We could easily lose our way. Let's report back to Justicar."

Dawn and Rusty knew Sparrow was right, but they still wanted to continue. Dawn was about to reply back, but Rusty shushed her with a motion of his tail. Together, they crept back to report to Justicar.

Willow, Squealer and Cloud swept up the spiral road that led them to a tippy top birds-eye-view of the human nest they were in. They looked to the east and for all they saw, it was a huge maze, with roads weaving in and out, houses here and there; it was just a conjunction of chaos. But they looked further, and they saw a great white wall that seemed to extend beyond visibility into the cloud cover of the sky. Cloud and Squealer gasped at the ferocious awe this wall gave rise to. Willow's mouth dropped in reverence to the broadness of the structure. For as far as his sharp eyes could reach, he could not see a single point of weakness, or crevice in the wall.

"We're almost there," Willow hissed to his companions. They continued staring at the great blank wall that allowed nothing to escape it. "We better figure out a way past that thing, or we'll be stuck here forever."

"No, we'll figure something out. We have to," Squealer grunted. He picked himself off the ground and led them back down the uncomfortable black road, careful not to stay in the middle of the road in case one of those noisy monsters ran them down.

Justicar commenced a meeting on the rooftop. "Please, share with us what you all have found. You may begin, Sparrow."

Sparrow meowed, " We have discovered that this is not something we can rush into. This place we have now arrived in, is a crossroads of chaos. Human nests, black roads, and the shadows of alleys lay all over this environment. All I have to say is that we need to think this through before we enter the maze."

Justicar nodded grimly. His eyes reflected the thinking going on inside his head. "You may begin, Squealer."

Squealer stepped forward from the ring of cats and mewled gruffly, "We have discovered from a tip top view, that we are extremely close to our goal."

All the cats in the circle immediately squealed in excitement at the news. Even the silent Mazy gave an amused grin.

Squealer continued, "The wall is greater than anything–anyone– has ever imagined. We saw neither crooks nor crannies in its indestructible hide, nor any end to it as it stretched far into the abyss of sky and as wide as eye can see. This is not good news rather bad." The last line he gave put out the smiles in many of the cats' faces.

Justicar swore under his breath. "So this will be more difficult than I have imagined so. Mazy, you are the wise on here. What do you say we do?"

Mazy yawned an old she-cat's yawn and rasped, "The maze is troubling, dearies. For as far as I know, these good-for-nothin' roads are meant to confuse us, to mess with our brilliant minds. But if we follow just one road straight down–" she motioned to the third road that nobody chose to explore. "–We should be able to get to the wall before dawn rolls up its curtains."

Justicar gazed at the knowing, wise Mazy knowing he could count on her at any time for the harder problems to solve. He smiled widely at Mazy and Mazy smiled a warm, motherly smile back. "Now with my word, this meeting will come to an end. We need to move now, and if you will, Mazy," Justicar looked at her, "Can you show us which road to go down again?"

Mazy nodded gently, and limped down the roof of the building, and led the rest of them down.

In no more than what felt like a few hours, the moon seemed to dissipate slightly, from the night sky, and Justicar seemed to get worried that they wouldn't make it there on time. Neria looked at him worriedly as they briskly trotted down the road.

Suddenly, there came a loud hiss of surprise from behind them. Rusty had flipped into the air and landed on his toes, his size doubling immediately, at the sight of two cats. One was jet black with patches of brown along his pelt. The other was sleek white with claws unsheathed from black toes. They were crouched in an aggressive stance, hissing hostilely.

"This is a bad time to pick a fight with us, cats," Rusty spat. Sparrow and Yarrow bared their fangs, as they motioned for everyone to get behind them. Dawn, with her head held high, stepped forward to join the fighting team.

"Wait you guys," Justicar called informally. "That's Ice and Snake. Don't get too excited for a battle." Justicar headed to greet Ice and Snake, with a cool flare in his eyes. "What are you guys back for?"

"We're not here for anything," Ice snarled.

"We're here to ground you for treating us like scum!" Snake hissed violently, threatening to pounce on Sparrow.

"I see. You and what army?" Justicar teased.

"This army," Ice hissed and yowled a battle yowl. He charged right for Yarrow.

"You pieces of scum!" Justicar hissed in anger. He intervened Ice's charge and knocked Ice right off his feet, but was tackled to the ground by Snake. Justicar flicked his hind legs into Snake's tummy and Snake was shot into the air, landing on a garbage can on all four toes.

Ice was limping back up from the powerful tackle and Snake hissed, in vengeance. Together, they charged towards the group again, taking Dawn by surprise. Ice raked his claws across her pelt, and Snake clamped down on her tail with his teeth. Dawn hissed in pain.

Sparrow immediately intervened and used his sheer size to stomp to Snake's tail. There was a sharp snap in his tail and Snake went limp, falling onto the hard rock ground.

Ice wheezed in anger, "You shall pay heavily for that, cat!" His malevolent dark eyes darted to and fro and landed right on Mazy.

Mazy inhaled sharply in fear, and tried to limp away before Ice could make his charge.

Justicar glanced to Mazy and back to Ice. Before Ice could hit Mazy, he dived into Ice, forepaws first. Ice hit the ground hard with Justicar on top of him and Justicar sank his claws into his fur. Ice yowled in pain, and kicked Justicar off of him. Justicar landed gallantly back on the pavement, teeth bared.

Meanwhile, Yarrow made sure that Snake didn't wake up, and Neria tended to Mazy, comforting her from the sounds of battle. Dawn padded up to them with blood streaked across her pelt. She wasn't bleeding anymore, and her tail wasn't broken, so she considered herself lucky compared to Snake. Together, they made conversation, teasing Mazy out of her fear of violence.

Justicar, Sparrow and Rusty made their way to the weakened Ice, baring their fangs viciously. Ice tried not to give in to the intimidation, but he knew that would only get him killed, like they killed his brother. His evil eyes seemed to falter into a sheen of tears, but he blinked it away and darted back into the darkness of an alley. He hissed loudly as he left, "The next time we meet, all of Blood Clan will be here!"

After leaving Snake's body behind, Justicar checked his allies to make sure there were no serious injuries dealt, especially on Dawn. Mazy offered her old knowledge of battle injuries and reported that nothing was severe, that they should find some water to wash off the dry blood and to cleanse the cuts. Mazy was sure no infection would occur if they found some clean water immediately.

By now, the sun seemed to barely appear on the black horizon of the not-yet-lightened land. They would have to take shelter for the day. Justicar did not allow travel in daylight, and the cats knew it. Justicar cussed under his breath as he quickly led them to the shelter of another alley down the street. _By tomorrow night, we'll be at the wall. And we'll see what we can do there_, he thought to himself, comforting his worries. The battle wasted too much time, and tomorrow, he didn't need a whole clan of cats coming after them, especially a clan of cats by the title of Blood Clan.


	7. Rage of Blood Clan

Night fell onto the last rays of the sun very fast. The stars burst out into the dark sky, glittering in all its glory. The party had to move. And this time, they have to move fast. With a delicious meal of raw salmon from the fishery again in the day, they stole into the night–bellies full–ready to approach the wall.

Justicar quickly led the cats in single file down the black paved road, careful not to pass too close to one of those whirring monsters. He could feel his heart pounding heavily in his chest; his breathing was hard and heavy. His ears twitched and he hoped that he didn't hear Blood Clan coming out from behind them. There was no need for trouble tonight. They wall was enough to deal with already.

They doggedly carried on with their trotting down the street, until they finally arrived at the base of the grand white wall. They all gasped in amazement. Mazy seemed like she was going to fall on her back with her head tilting higher and higher.

The wall at its base, extended into the sky, reaching for the stars, for it seemed not to let the smallest detail of the other side into view. It was as if the humans were trying to block something unknown out from their community. Justicar pressed his paws into the wall, and it was smooth as a tile floor in the fishery and not a single crack pervaded through its massive structure. It was nowhere close to budging.

"Mazy?" Justicar asked. "Have any opinions on this?"

There were a few moments of silence. "No. I really don't." Mazy really meant it; for this was the first time she had seen such a wonder.

"The wall is totally smooth and it seems very thick, for I cannot budge it." Then Justicar's head brightened up with an idea. "Let's all try to push on it. Put all your weight on it. GO!"

Every cat, even the old Mazy pressed their paws into the wall, and forced all the strength they could muster, into the wall, but there wasn't even the slightest budge.

"That's not going to help you know?" A deep meow sounded from behind.

The cats snapped their heads back to the unknown voice and it came from a puny black cat with a white-furred collar and a white tail.

"Who are you?" Justicar demanded. He tried to assume a position as authoritative as possible, but that wasn't really possible with the small black cat sitting on top a nearby tree.

"Just another cat," he answered. "Been here all my life. Tried everything I could. Got a few friends killed here and there, but no biggy. What about you?" He seemed to be a very chill cat and his voice sounded like there was nothing that surprised him about this place anymore.

"Been here most of mine. I want out. As do these cats," Justicar meowed gruffly. "Know how?"

"Oh, good sir," the small black-white cat began while inspecting his neatly cut claws. "Getting past the wall won't do you any good. You need to take a detour. The only way out is through one of those trucks."

Justicar's face cringed in confusion at the sound of that strange word. "What is a _truck_?"

The small black cat blinked and purred amusingly, "One of those bigger 'monsters' that come in and out of this human villa with food and supplies. I would think it's rather hard to accomplish such a thing with what so many friends you have." He looked around, smirking at the determined faces on the cats. "Don't try anymore, comrades. There is no gentle way out."

"We will! You just watch us, we _will_!" Justicar was close to a hiss. His fur seemed to tilt up into the air. Neria nodded her head in agreement as did the rest.

The small black cat purred in amusement and meowed coolly, "Remember the cat you killed yesterday?" His eyes narrowed in evil delight.

Justicar's jaws dropped and he meowed, "How did you know?" He dropped down to his haunches. Dawn and Neria led Mazy around and into an alley between two buildings built into the wall.

The small black cat adjusted a spiked collar around his neck, full of teeth from some animals. "You killed one of my friends. How would I not know?" His teeth became bared and saliva spilt out of his miniature mouth. He leaped off the tree and prowled towards them in the dark of the street. His yellow eyes glowed in the shadow of the tree. Then a white cat came out from underneath a bush and a bulky black and white cat came out from underneath a bench. A ginger tabby emerged from another bush and a silvery gray tomcat leaped out from another tree. They padded closer, as a group of five, on their haunches, in an intimidating stance. What was most menacing was the fact that they had spiked collars full of rather large teeth.

Justicar hissed a dangerous hiss, and Sparrow joined in. Before he knew it, they were hissing their faces off at each other in a game of intimidation.

"Don't think you can run away from this again, you filthy pieces of crowfood!" The tiny black cat hissed as he laid one paw in front of another, closer and closer to Justicar. He quickly charged, tackling into Justicar. He was surprisingly heavy for his size.

Justicar flicked his powerful hind legs into his belly, but the cat wouldn't budge, even when blood came seeping out of his belly. The small cat bit into Justicar's neck and blood poured out but was quickly interrupted by a flash of gray. Cloud had tackled the tiny cat off of Justicar.

Cloud grinded his fangs against the tiny cat's neck, causing blood to seep out all the while blinding it in the eye with a swing of one paw. The small cat hissed in pain as he stumbled back.

"Get away from us!" Cloud yowled angrily, looking back at a bleeding Justicar, limping towards Neria inside the alley.

The humongous black and white tom came up to the small cat's side, "Are you alright, Scourge?"

"Leave me alone, Bone! That witty cat is _my _prey!" Scourge raged.

An orange tabby tom behind Scourge launched his bulk into Cloud, rolling him backwards while sinking his claws into his back. He bounced painfully on Cloud's stomach and launched himself back to where Bone was inspecting Scourge's wounds. Cloud hissed as he struggled to his paws. Sparrow padded up to him to see to it Cloud was okay.

Yarrow, a russet-colored cat padded up from behind Sparrow and Cloud and meowed to Blood Clan with a singsong accent, "Don't step any closer."

"We will not walk away until we kill another one of you!" Scourge spat rudely charging towards Cloud and Sparrow, with the orange tabby tom and Bone at his sides.

Yarrow grimaced, for he knew this was going to be ugly. He hated seeing blood spilling out of his own kind, but defending his teammates is first priority and if that meant spilling blood, then so be it. With lightning reflexes, he easily sidestepped the large orange tabby tom's charge. He swung back and just as the charge missed, he latched onto the tom's back, with steel-like cutter claws sinking into his flesh. The orange tabby tom let out a shriek and tried to kick back at Yarrow, but missed horribly.

Cloud was engaged in battle against the already-injured Scourge. He didn't want to hurt him, but in this case, shedding no blood was not an option. They danced around each other for a few moments, but Scourge got impatient and threw himself into Cloud, bowling him over. Cloud flicked his hind legs back into the cut on the belly Justicar gave him earlier and managed to fling him off. When Scourge was flung into a tree, he flipped himself back on his paws and hissed madly in intimidation.

Bone and Sparrow wrestled each other, spitting and hissing into each other's faces. Paws were swinging and teeth were flashing. Tails were whipping and claws were raking. Finally, Sparrow managed to shove the Bone into the trunk of a tree while delivering an unsheathed punch to the face. There came a low grunt from Bone, and he slumped down, unconscious.

"Bone!" Scourge shrieked, rapidly dashing towards Bone. But Sparrow flung himself into the incoming Scourge and flattened him with his weight. Scourge struggled to get up from under the heavy weight. He finally flicked Sparrow in the stomach with his hind claws and Sparrow flinched, falling off of Scourge. Scourge hissed dangerously while guarding his deputy.

The silvery tabby that had done no fighting prowled invisibly behind the bushes. When Cloud started to pad toward Sparrow, the silver tabby rammed into his side, pounding him into the ground. Cloud was caught surprised, for he had completely forgotten that there was another cat. He felt a sharp claw rake down his pelt and he yowled in pain.

Yarrow lifted his head from the orange tabby's unconscious body. He made sure he wouldn't wake up for some time, but didn't have the guts to take his life. Seeing the wrestling going on with Cloud and the mysterious silver tabby, he flung himself into the wrestle, raking the silver tom's shoulders and whipping his tail into his eyes. There was hissing and spitting and yowling, but Cloud and Yarrow came out of the entangled mess victoriously. The silver tom was unconscious; not dead, but wouldn't wake up until some hours later.

Scourge blinked in surprise. It was the first time in moons that they had lost a battle with another party of cats. Scourge hissed in the most menacing, malevolent way and he fled, leaving all his team members behind.

"And don't come back again!" Cloud spat, waving his tail in victory. "I'm surprised we didn't lose anyone today, except receive a few injuries."

"Me too," Sparrow grunted, his tail rubbing on a new scratch he received while in combat with Bone.

With that, Cloud, Sparrow and Yarrow padded into the alley where all the she-cats were hiding and where the ones who didn't join the brawl stayed, as well. Justicar seemed relieved to see such little battle scars upon his comrades. He dipped his head respectfully to his teammates and said, "Today we have won an uneasy battle. And even though I suffered some hard injuries, I'm sure we still can all go on." He coughed. "Mazy said the gash in my neck would heal in time, but I will not battle any time soon. Sparrow, you are now leader of battle. Thank you comrades, for fighting on behalf of us. Thank you so much. And with the sun coming up and the day about to start, I recommend we send out rested cats to bring us back some food." He smiled warmly at his mate Neria, and turned back to face his teammates. "Who's going on this mission?"


End file.
